A Fulham football fan in the US is suing the Department of Motor Vehicles in California after he was banned from having a personalised number plate with the initials COYW — because officials feared it had racist connotations.
Jon Kotler, a 73-year-old Los Angeles university professor, chose the plate because the acronym, which stands for Come On You Whites,is a slogan long associated with the London club and its white strip.
But the California DMV turned down Professor Kotler’s application on the grounds it “can have racial connations... offensive to good taste and decency.”
The decision infuriated the academic, who teaches law at the University of Southern California and has been a season ticket holder at Craven Cottage for over a decade, travelling across the Atlantic to watch up to 10 games a year.
“It’s just a shirt colour,” he told the BBC. “The people at the DMV are either extra-thick or very PC.”
His current number plate is FFC SW6, representing the club’s initials and its stadium postcode. He claims that by rejecting his plate the DMV is depriving him of his right to free speech.
His civil rights lawsuit, filed in court yesterday, says: “There is no evidence that the slogan carries racial connotations, and thus no reason that Mr Kotler should not be able to express his message the same way that thousands of other Americans express their messages on personalised licence plates every year.”
It says many other teams are known by the colour of their strip, like the Blues for Chelsea and the Reds for Liverpool. It adds: “New Zealand’s famed rugby team is known as the All Blacks.” The DMV was unavailable for comment.
